Hide and Seek
by Akemi Ryuji
Summary: Following the events of "The Orphanage", SPR is hired to investigate a roadside attraction featuring the paranormal. With an overwhelming amount of possible causes, the team races to find the true source before someone gets hurt. On top of it all, Naru decides the team shouldn't know Kara's true identity until after the investigation, but Mai isn't sure she can lie to her friends.
1. Prologue

**Welcome to my new story, Hide and Seek! It's taken me way too long to sort myself out and get to work on this thing, but I'm really excited to get to it and see where the story takes me.**

 **Just to clear a few things up before jumping into it: Mai is eighteen, Naru is twenty. I don't remember if I ever specified this in my last story, but Kara was eight then and has since turned nine. This story is a sequel to The Orphanage, but you're not at a serious disadvantage if you didn't read it. There will be a few mentions of The Orphanage, but the only overarching plot point is Kara.**

 **I'll try to update on a weekly, if not bi-weekly basis. That's not a promise, just a tentative plan. I suck pretty bad at updating, which makes all my loyal readers that much more awesome.**

 **Let me know your thoughts, theories, or ideas you think might be cool for me to include. There's always room for improvement!**

In the Shibuya district in Tokyo, there is a small business nestled between a clothing store and a mortgaging firm. This business, difficult to spot by anyone who wasn't looking for it, is called Shibuya Psychic Research, or SPR for short. This little business tucked away in its little corner of Shibuya is the place to go for all the unfortunate souls who are suffering from paranormal activity.

Today, though, this office was closed. Even calls to the office were being deferred to the answering machine, despite the fact that the three regular employees were, in fact, all present.

I was in the kitchen, preparing a large pot of tea, glancing nervously back and forth between the door to the office and the back hallway. Neither one showed any signs of activity, but that only increased my anxiety. Usually, I'd be thrilled that my SPR family was coming over, especially since I hadn't seen any of them in over three weeks, but some extenuating circumstances called for a different reaction.

Three weeks ago, myself, Naru and Lin had returned from a case at an Orphanage with an unexpected addition: a nine-year-old girl by the name of Kara Taniyama-Davis. Though it may seem completely unbelievable, this girl was now the adopted daughter of both me and Naru. It was the last thing I'd expected to bring home with me, and the immediate aftermath had completely uprooted my life.

The most pressing problem we faced with having a child to take care of was the simple fact that Naru and I both lived in different places. The last thing I wanted was to force Kara to suffer through some split custody arrangement just so she could spend time with both parents. Naru had, in his typical oblivious manner, declared that the most practical living solution would be for the three of us to share a home. While I knew that his logic was sound and I agreed with it wholeheartedly, I was still extremely flustered at the thought of moving in with the narcissistic boss I was still infuriatingly in love with. Even more frustrating was the fact that he'd remained completely unfazed during that entire discussion. Does he have any idea how embarrassing it is to just randomly move in with someone you secretly love? I know you don't have to be in a romantic relationship with someone to live with them, but he must be a little nervous, right?

Regardless, it was what was best for Kara, and we'd moved forward quickly with the plan. Naru owned an actual house, so he'd gone to the lengths of renovating it to accommodate two new housemates. The renovations had gone on a little longer than expected and my lease on my apartment had expired the day before, so Kara and I were both living out of the office for the next couple days. Since the vast majority of our belongings had already been transferred to the house, and the office had initially been an apartment meant to accommodate housemates, it really wasn't a big deal. Kara was thrilled to be "camping out" at mommy and daddy's office.

The other thing that had me frazzled was the thought of how the other members of SPR were going to react when they found out. Lin, in his typical manner, had accepted the matter silently, but I was dreading having to explain the situation to Monk and Ayako. Even Masako might react badly, especially since she continues to nurture her crush on Naru.

Personally, I would rather get things over with and explain the situation outright, but Naru decided to further complicate matters by convincing us to stay quiet about it until the new case he'd accepted was complete.

"The last thing I need is for my employees to get distracted by personal matters when they should be focusing on their work." He'd explained with a certain amount of finality. I would've argued further, but he'd already won Kara over, so I was forced to relent. Honestly, that boy had such a bad habit of keeping secrets.

The door to the office burst open, startling me out of my thoughts. I turned just in time to see the fast-approaching Monk grinning like an idiot before smothering me with a hug "Hey Mai! I feel like it's been forever! How's our favorite girl?"

I struggled against his iron grip. "Monk, you're chocking me!" I exclaimed jokingly, pushing him away with a wide smile.

The other members of the group came in much more calmly, smiling indulgently at the over-excited Monk. John was the first in after Monk. "Hey Mai." He said. "I'm glad to see you're doing well."

Ayako, stepping around John, added "Yeah, I'm kinda surprised. No scrapes or bruises or anything. Did the three of you really take a case on your own?"

I folded my arms defiantly. "Ayako, I'm not that bad! Honestly, we handled everything just fine." Technically, that was only partially true. To be honest, the case would've been much more difficult if Kara hadn't been there.

Ayako raised her hands in defense. "If you say so." She said. The two men laughed.

Masako, who came in at the rear end of the group, peered right past me and said "And who's this?"

I turned, surprised, to find Kara peeking shyly around the counter. When the little girl realised that everyone's attention was now on her, she squealed slightly and stepped back, hiding completely behind the counter. I smiled indulgently and said "Kara, it's okay. Come meet my friends."

I held out my hand to the little girl and she took it hesitantly, stepping out of her hiding space and looking up at the group of adults through her bangs. Kara shifted uncomfortably, standing slightly behind me as she was introduced to the group. "Guys, this is Kara." I said. "She's from our last case. She's staying with us while her new home is being built. She'll be coming with us on this case."

Kara looked up at me and smiled hopefully. "I can come with you? Really?" She clarified. I nodded, and the girl smiled even wider.

Ayako frowned slightly. "Are you sure that's okay? These cases aren't always safe. Do her parents know about this?"

I chuckled nervously. "Oh, her parents know." Her parents are the ones who accepted this case, after all. "Don't worry, Ayako. Naru wouldn't've said she could come if he thought it wouldn't be safe for her."

"Oh please," Ayako scoffed. "As if Naru would have the faintest idea on how to take care of a little girl."

I laughed along with the rest of the group, but the only thing on my mind was just how magnificently wrong Ayako was. Not so long ago, I would've thought much the same, but after watching him with Kara over the past couple weeks, I'd learned that Naru could be surprisingly fatherly.

Naru's office door opened, interrupting the conversation. Naru appeared, carrying a folder in his hands. He glanced up, took a look at the group, and said "Mai, tea."

I had become so accustom to this command that I barely even heard it anymore and simply expected it. The kettle started to whistle before I could properly answer and I brought Kara with me into the kitchen to prepare tea for everyone. The rest of the group joined Naru in the sitting room.

A couple minutes later, Kara and I joined the rest of the group in the sitting room and passed out tea to everyone. Kara brought Naru's tea directly to him and sat down on the couch to his left. Once I was done handing out the rest of the drinks, I sat between her and Monk.

Naru waited a moment to make sure he had everyone's undivided attention, and then closed the folder in his hands and started. "I've accepted a new case. The client is a Mr. Tanaka Yukito. The location involved is a popular roadside attraction in a nearby town." Naru slid a picture onto the table. In the picture we could see a large building, big enough to be a mansion or a small hotel, at least a few decades old. A large sign at the entrance of the parking lot declared it to be the 'Nakai Museum of Oddities.' "The client has made it clear that business will be conducted as usual during the investigation. Hours of operation are from 10 in the morning to 8 at night. I don't foresee this being a problem. A camera security system is already installed and the client has offered us full use of this system, so we will be bringing a limited amount of equipment."

Kara leaned forward and picked up the picture on the table. "You know, I've heard of this place." She said quietly. "They're supposed to have a few haunted objects on display. It's part of the attraction. Why would he want anyone to exorcise the place?"

Naru plucked the photo out of Kara's hand and placed it neatly back in his folder. "According to the client, the activity he is experiencing is not related to the attractions. Even if it turns out to be so, the damages inflicted on the property have become too much of a disruption to his business."

Ayako and Monk both raised their eyebrows at Naru. I imagined they were surprised that Naru had answered Kara so calmly. If anyone else had brought it up, he would've either ignored them entirely or answered in a way that insulted the asker's intelligence. I'd called him out on this a while back. He'd told me that there was nothing unusual about it—Kara simply asked the right questions.

"The client has offered two hotel suites, located on the second floor, for the duration of the investigation." Naru continued without the slightest hint that he'd noticed the others' shock. "I've called Yasu in for this one. Since he's already in the area, he will meet us on site."

He called Yasu? That's unusual in itself. Yasu works with the office during the summer, but Naru doesn't often bring him on cases unless there's going to be a lot of research involved. I had a feeling there was a lot more to the case than Naru was telling us.

As Naru wrapped up the meeting and the others started to prepare for the hour-long trip out to Nakai, I sent Kara to pack her bag and cornered Naru in his office. He didn't acknowledge my presence until I closed the door behind me—a sure sign that I needed his undivided attention. He paused, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

"I don't recall asking for a second serving of tea—although I wouldn't refuse it." Naru remarked.

I glared, biting my tongue. I couldn't let him rile me up right now. "Naru," I said. "Are you sure it's okay to take Kara with us?"

He placed his papers on the table, looking down at the desk. I felt like he was avoiding my gaze. "It's hardly appropriate to question the decision to bring her now." He said. I couldn't tell if he was scolding me or not, but I was getting frustrated anyways. "It is far too late to make alternate arrangements, and it would be cruel to leave her behind after telling her she could come."

"I know that," I growled, clenching my hands into fists. "That wasn't the question. I don't want to bring her if she might be in danger."

Naru sighed quietly and looked up at me. "The location has an intricate history and information is hard to find. This is why I need Yasu. But from the research I've already done, I can say that there is nothing to suggest a violent crime took place on the grounds. The haunting has caused damage to the property, but no living creature has been harmed. Whatever we might be facing, I don't believe Kara will be in any danger."

I knew he believed that, and I knew I should trust his judgement since he is an expert in this sort of thing, but I couldn't shake the anxiety creeping down my spine. On our last case, Kara had been kidnapped by a spirit and put through a short but intense torture session. The bruises had only recently faded away. I couldn't let something like that happen to her again.

I gritted my teeth and walked right up to Naru, standing tall to take advantage of my full height, which, unfortunately, still didn't quite bring me to Naru's level. I looked him sternly in the eye and said "Even so, I want you to promise me you'll protect her. Promise me that nothing bad is going to happen to her."

Naru met my glare with an indifferent expression, but the harshness in his eyes had softened ever so slightly. "Didn't I already make that promise when I signed those adoption papers?"

I was so shocked, I couldn't even respond when he picked up his case and left the room. As he walked away, I turned, staring at his back, wondering how in the world the Naru I knew had just said what I'd heard him say. Was he sick? Should I be worried?

Lin peaked into the room as he was walking by, saying "Mai, twenty minutes."

I jolted, rushing out of the room to go pack my things. I knew from experience that if I wasn't ready on time, Naru would leave me behind, and I did not want to have to pay to take public transit all the way to Nakai.

I'd have to trust Naru, I decided as I threw my things together. He may be arrogant and unbearable at times and wholly narcissistic, but if there's one thing I can be sure of, it's that Naru cares about Kara, and he will do everything in his power to protect her.

I know it.


	2. Nakai Museum of Oddities

**So I've been working on this story sporadically for a few days. Strangely, for no apparent reason, I've been compelled to write scenes that aren't actually going to factor into the story for a while. I usually don't do that because I never know completely where I'm going with a story until I actually get there.**

 **Now that I think about it, I might need to add the 'romance' genre for this one… well, we'll see.**

 **Enjoy!**

We arrived in Nakai at 2:30 in the afternoon. The museum was just off the highway and the parking lot was packed so full that Lin had to pull the van all the way to the back of the building so he could park. Monk, in his own car, didn't even get a true parking spot and had to pull onto the grass.

Lin and John both stayed with the vehicles while the rest of us went up to the front entrance. Kara bounced from one foot to the next, playing her own personal game of hopscotch as she led the way to the door. She hummed quietly to herself, a tune I'd heard dozens of times over the last couple weeks, ever since she'd taken over the computer.

Naru kept pretty close to Kara while I trailed behind with the rest. Monk was fascinated by the building.

"Just look at the molding around the top." He gushed, pointing it out. "And those lion statues at the edge? You don't see architecture like this anymore. This place is probably hundreds of years old."

"It's creepy, that's what it is." Ayako shot back, gripping her arms in discomfort. "A place this old, no wonder it's haunted."

Personally, I agreed with Ayako. I felt like the building had eyes, and it was staring right at me. A chill ran up my spine, but I forced myself not to react. The last thing I wanted was for these guys to start interrogating me about what I was sensing.

The inside of the building didn't do much to alleviate my discomfort. Aside from the old and peeling wood of the walls, and the fake fog billowing at the entrance to the museum corded off to the side, there was a large poster behind the desk of a mummified corpse. The three of us stopped in the entrance while Naru went up to the desk to speak with the attendant.

Kara ran over to me, tugging at my sleeve excitedly. "You see that mummy?" She said, pointing to the poster with a grin. "It's supposed to be 3000 years old. They brought it over from China 10 years ago. He was some type of rich person that thought he could live forever if he cast a bunch of spells and mummified his corpse." I looked down, only to find that she was actually reading most of this off of a pamphlet she had clutched in her hand. "They say that sometimes, at night, the mummy gets up and walks around. No one ever sees it move, but when people show up in the morning, they find it in a different spot."

Masako and Monk both seemed unimpressed, but Ayako and I shivered. Ayako took a step back. "How delightful." She muttered sarcastically.

I put a hand on Kara's head, trying to distract myself from the creepiness surrounding me. "You like this stuff, Kara?" I asked, more for the benefit of those around me, since I was a little familiar with her internet history.

She smiled widely, spinning around to stand in front of the group. "Modern occult is my favorite!" She declared. "It's lots of fun cause I can tell da—Naru things he doesn't know about ghosts and stuff!"

I tensed up at her slip, worried that one of the others might ask about it, but apparently she'd made a good enough recovery.

Masako turned to Monk and Ayako. "What is modern occult?" She asked, looking a little confused.

I'd had to sit through a fifteen minute lecture from Kara before I understood the concept, so I was pretty surprised when Monk answered so simply. "Modern occult just refers to legends, spells, cults and curses that appear in recent history. There's an entire internet subculture dedicated to it."

"I'd heard about that," Ayako agreed. "But aren't most of those stories supposed to be made up?"

Kara waved her arms emphatically, demanding the group's attention. "It's more complicated than that!" She insisted. "Lots of those stories are true! They are!"

I smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Of course they are, Kara." I indulged her. "Ayako is just being a party pooper."

Kara peaked around me and stuck her tongue out at Ayako. Ayako protested, but Kara ran off to join Naru before Ayako could chase her down. I couldn't help but smile at just how lively she was. When Naru and I first met her, Kara had been shy and withdrawn, suffering from a haunting, unstable PK and discrimination from the other children. Since we'd adopted her, she'd been gaining more and more of that childish vigor she'd lost at the orphanage. I was so happy with how well she was doing.

Naru's conversation with the attendant finally came to an end and the girl retreated behind the door to her right labelled 'office'. She came out a second later with a tall man with pepper hair and a short-cut beard. The rest of us moved forward, anticipating an introduction.

"Mr. Shibuya." The man bowed. "I am overwhelmingly relieved to have you here at last." Naru nodded back politely. The man turned to the rest of us. "I am Tanaka Yukito. Thank you all for coming out this way."

We all bowed respectfully.

Mr. Yukito turned back to Naru. "These are the keys to the rooms I've prepared for your group." He said, handing Naru two large, brass keys. This place really was old. With his other hand, he held out a bunch of I.D tags. "These are for the members of your group. They indicate that you are a member of staff, so security personnel will not bother you."

Naru took the I.D tags and immediately passed them back to me. I rolled my eyes but handed them out silently, giving three to Masako so she could pass them along, one to Kara, keeping one to myself, and pocketing the rest so I could give them to the others later.

Mr. Yukito continued. "Now, if you could all follow me into my office, we can finalize the details of your investigation."

We were all happy to follow the man into the privacy of his office, except Kara who wanted to go see the exhibits. I promised to take her to see them later.

The office was large and tidy, but also dark and held the faintest smell of smoke. There were no chairs for us to sit in, so Mr. Yukito opted to stand as well. "The surveillance room is through this door." He said, pointing out the door to his left. "The only other way into this room is through an outdoor entrance at the side of the building. Your I.D.s will allow you to enter through that door. Any further equipment you would like to set up can be wired through that room. My only request is that you ensure that any equipment will not impair the movement of our guests through the museum."

Wow, I was really impressed with this guy. Naru answered "Thank you for your consideration. My team and I will do our upmost to solve your problem." He glanced sideways at me and gave me a hard look. After a moment, I understood, and I quickly pulled out a pen and notepad I kept with me at all times. Naru turned back to Mr. Yukito. "While we have a moment, could you explain in detail what you have been experiencing in the building?"

The man nodded gravely. "It started around a month ago." He began. "The night guard began reporting that he could hear footsteps throughout the main floor. None of the cameras picked up anything unusual, so we wrote it off at first. A few days later, guests on the second floor motel began complaining that they could hear whispering in the night, that it would keep them awake." He paused for a moment. "At first we thought that teenagers were sneaking in at night. It wouldn't be the first time. But soon after, the cameras starting picking up movement… objects moving on their own. Doors began to open and close with no one around, even after they'd been locked. A member of the kitchen staff was nearly injured when something knocked her down in the freezer."

I paused, then glared at Naru. No indication of any violence, huh?

Naru didn't turn to look at me, and Mr. Yukito continued. "This isn't the first time we've dealt with paranormal activity here. However, we've adopted many measures in order to control and contain the activity from the attractions. There has been no deviation in our procedures, so I'm baffled as to what could have caused the activity this time. Things are breaking, our employees are scared, and nothing we've done has worked."

Naru glanced back at me and I nodded slightly, telling him that I'd gotten it all down. To Mr. Yukito, he said "Thank you for your time. We will begin setting up immediately." He turned back to the rest of us. "Mai, Monk, I want you to begin by taking temperature readings on the main floor. The rest of us will help carry in the equipment."

Temperature readings before the equipment is ready? That's unusual of him. Usually we don't do temperature readings until the cameras and microphones have been brought in and Naru has had a chance to look around. Then I realised where he was sending us, and it suddenly made sense.

I looked down at Kara. "Do you want to help me and Monk take temperatures? We can go see the museum while we're at it."

Kara beamed. "I wanna go!" She bounced forward, took hold of Monk's wrist in one hand and mine in the other, and started to pull us forward. "Let's go right now!"

Monk stumbled a little as the nine-year-old pulled us out of the room. "We're coming, we're coming!" He protested, forcing her to slow down. "We'll at least need a thermometer."

From the front entrance, Naru called out to Monk. He turned just in time to catch the thermometer Naru had tossed over to him. I tried to hide my smile. So he'd been planning that from the beginning, had he?

I didn't have time to give Naru some sort of sign of thanks, because Kara had pulled me and Monk into the museum the second the thermometer landed in Monk's hand. The poor assistant at the desk barely had time to pull the rope out of our way before we sped past her and were engulfed in a thick fake fog.

When we emerged from the white cloud, I was overcome with the sensation that we'd stepped into a different world. Everything was cast into a sudden darkness, from the floors, to the walls, to the thick pedestals that held the various attractions. The attractions themselves were brightly illuminated with neon lights, but the lights were positioned in a way that they would illuminate the display and nothing else. The strange contrast gave the room such an intense, eerie feeling that I felt it must have been intentional. Added to that was the shifting crowd tourists, all shrouded in shadow, murmuring to one another, filling the space with a jumbled sound that reminded me of the buzzing of a bee.

"Wow," Monk said. "That's quite the mood they got going in here."

Kara was completely oblivious to the atmosphere. Dissatisfied with our sudden lack of movement, Kara let go of our hands and rushed forward to the first thing she saw, which, unfortunately, was the same mummy she had described in the entrance. She read the description on the wall next to the large glass case, then turned to the mummy and stared, as if waiting for it to show signs of movement.

Monk took the opportunity to take temperature readings. He quickly took a general reading of the room, which I noted down, then took another reading next to the mummy. "We might as well check for any drops near the attractions." He explained. "Just because the owner said it wasn't the problem doesn't mean he's right."

I was still keeping an anxious eye on the mummy, as though taking my eyes off it would somehow invite it to move. "I guess so." I agreed. "But these things can't all seriously be haunted, can they?"

Monk shrugged. "It's probably all made-up stuff meant to attract tourists." He admitted. "But it might not be, and you know how Naru would react if we didn't take the guy seriously."

I chuckled, and said in my best imitation of Naru "We will explore all options in our investigation." I smiled. "Isn't that what he always says?"

Monk laughed quite loudly, and a few of the guests cast him annoyed looks. I started to laugh along with him when Kara suddenly reappeared at my side. "Come see!" She insisted fervently, tugging at my sleeve.

"All right, let's go see." I answered, letting her drag me deeper into the museum. Monk followed after us.

Kara took us to a long display that held a large assortment of finely decorated knives and other sharp tools. "These are ritual knives." She declared. "Most of them were used for animal sacrifice but some were used for human sacrifice. You see that really large one in the middle? That was used for human sacrifice."

Before I had time to react, Kara started pulling me to the next display. Monk barely had time to take a temperature before chasing after us.

Kara stopped in front of a large abstract painting. I looked up at it for a couple seconds but was almost immediately forced to look away. The sight alone gave me such a strong sense of foreboding that it left a deep chill in my bones. Kara explained "This painting is supposed to be a window to hell, or some sort of otherworld. Some people have gone insane after staring at the picture too long." Kara gazed up at the picture in fascination. I was a little surprised that she didn't seem at all disturbed. Didn't she feel it?

Whether it was some innate foreboding or her usual curiosity, Kara didn't stand there long. A couple seconds later had us standing in front of another attraction, a brightly illuminated display that was hard to get to because of all the tourists surrounding it. When I finally got a good view, I wasn't entirely sure how to react.

Sitting in the glass display on a small wooden rocking chair was a very old doll. It was dressed like a little sailor and I could only assume that it was supposed to be a boy, because it had no hair. It was hunched forward in a way that almost incited pity, but its eyes were a deep black. Looking into those eyes, I was once again overcome by that feeling that I was being watched, the same feeling I'd felt outside the building.

Kara stood before the doll, bowing her head respectfully. "This is Edward the doll." She answered, more calm and articulate than before. "He's a cursed doll. You have to show him respect." She gave me a pointed look, and I quickly followed her example, lowering my head respectfully. I wasn't sure whether to believe her or not. My instincts were going wild today. But I figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

Monk took the temperature, then looked around at the tourists suspiciously. "They've all put away their cameras." He noticed. "They were taking pictures of everything else, but no one takes a picture of this guy. Why not?"

Kara answered. "Edward has to give you permission!" She said. "If you take his picture without his permission, bad things will happen to you. You see all those letters?" She pointed to the wall behind the case, and I noticed for the first time that it was littered with dozens upon dozens of letters. "Those are apologies from all the people who didn't believe and took his picture without asking."

Monk inched closer so he could read some of the letters, but I didn't bother. I didn't really want to read how people came to be cursed by this creepy doll. I kept my distance, but even after leaving the display, I couldn't shake the feeling that those small black eyes were following me.

Kara took us through an assortment of other displays. There was a book that supposedly killed anyone who reads it (although how it would kill you Kara couldn't say). There was a collection of porcelain dolls, not quite as disturbing as Edward, but supposedly made in the image, and from the skin, of real people. A sign insisting people don't touch the display stopped us from verifying that, not that I wanted to. Monk took two separate readings around these dolls.

A square room in the middle of the museum housed what was probably the most disturbing display of all. The place was called 'the hanging room'. In the dim red light, I could see around seven wooden figurines hanging from the neck. Kara wouldn't step into the room, and a quick reading of the sign next to the doorway explained why: each doll was supposed to be possessed by the spirit of a child who was murdered by a serial killer known as 'the hanger'. I didn't need to read the rest to learn how the victims died.

Monk went into the room to take his temperature readings, and by force of habit I went to step in after him. Instantly I was awash with an intense sorrow, and all my senses were suddenly smothered, as if I were underwater. I could faintly hear cries, but I couldn't make out any words. Swaying slightly, I forced myself to step back. Once I was out of the room, it was gone.

I shook my head, trying to cast off the fog. I'd never been in a room like that before. I watched Monk take the readings from the entrance, surprised that he didn't seem affected, until he joined us outside the room and said "That's one freaky room. It's like trying to move through water."

"You felt it too?" I said, still looking in the room at the hanging figurines.

"Yeah." He said. "It's no mystery. If you look at the molding around the ceiling, and around the entrance—you see all those symbols?—it's a really intricate seal. It's a little like the paper charms Ayako uses, only several hundred times more powerful. Only a true professional could've made those carvings."

While Monk admired the handiwork of the spell, the only thing on my mind was what kind of power that room contained to need such a powerful seal.

The museum had two other sections dedicated to different types of displays: a section on super humans, and a section on freaks of nature. We took temperature readings of these areas half-heartedly. After experiencing their supernatural section, we were pretty sure that the investigation wouldn't take us beyond the displays there. Kara only expressed slight interest in the other sections, sticking by our side and following us through the exhibits as quickly as possible.

At the very back of the museum, there was a large restaurant bustling with activity. The place was brightly lit, and people chatted loudly and happily. The atmosphere was so different that it made me feel a little dizzy. We walked around the area, getting a couple temperature readings, and flashed our I.D. tags to get a reading from the kitchen area. Monk wanted to take a temperature of the freezer, because of the woman who was nearly hurt in there. I was exasperated that I had to remind him there wouldn't be a point, since a freezer is kept at sub-zero temperatures anyways. Monk blushed a little bit at that.

When we were finally done, Kara, Monk and I went around the outside of the building to find the entrance to the surveillance room. A giant red sign made it pretty easy to find, that and the fact that Lin, John and Ayako were still bringing in equipment.

"Hey," Ayako said, catching sight of us. "You guys done already?"

I waved my notepad and smiled. "Got it all down." I called back. "Where's Naru and Masako?"

Ayako pointed into the room. "Naru's doing something in there." She rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed that he wasn't helping them out. "Masako's doing a walkthrough. I think she meant to catch up with you guys."

I thought that probably wasn't likely. The only time Masako intentionally seeks me out is when she wants to show something off. I don't hate Masako, and I know she doesn't hate me, but our mutual crush does make us rivals. Although really, at this point, do either of us even have a chance?

I thanked Ayako and went into the surveillance room. The place was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Three security guards were watching a wall's worth of monitors intently from their chairs. One of them nodded back to me politely as I walked in. On the opposite end of the room, Naru was sitting at a computer, probably doing research.

Kara ran over to Naru, jumping over a couch to get there, and threw her arms around him from the back. I quickly looked back to see if any of our friends were gaping, but they were all outside.

Naru turned slowly, and Kara loosened her grip to let him move. I bit my tongue, trying hard not to laugh. I still remembered the first time Kara had done that to him. Naru had jumped so bad, even Lin had laughed. Naru had been pretty sour with the both of us for the rest of that day.

At this point, Naru had gotten used to Kara. He calmly escaped her grip and asked "Did you enjoy the museum?"

"It's awesome!" Kara declared enthusiastically. "They got lots of really famous stuff here. I got to see Edward the doll, and the hanging room, and the mummy. It's really cool."

Naru turned to me. "Anything unusual?" He asked.

I frowned. I knew he was asking about my sixth sense, and usually I was happy to help, but my 'animal instincts', as Naru calls it, were going crazy. I wasn't sure if I could trust them.

"Lots." I admitted uneasily, thinking of the painting, the doll, the mannequins, and everything else that had given me a weird vibe. "Some of those exhibits… I don't think the stories about them are made up."

"Of course they aren't" Kara nodded confidently. "There's lots of proof. But there's lots of things they did here to help control problems. They got that spell around the hanging room, and glass cases for Edward and the mummy to stop them from moving around. I didn't see anything for the porchellen dolls…"

"The porcelain ones?" I guessed. "The sign said that there's only a problem if you touch it."

"Oh yeah." Kara said. Turning back to Naru, she added "So there shouldn't be a problem."

Naru nodded and turned back to his screen. "We'll just have to wait and see what we're dealing with." He said.

My stomach twisted into a knot, and I took a step closer to Kara. I don't care whether we're dealing with ghosts, curses, or anything else, as long as none of it comes after my daughter.

 **I would like to very respectfully acknowledge that the concept for Edward the doll is borrowed from the real cursed doll, Robert the doll. Feel free to look him up. Be polite, be respectful. This is me, respectful-ing.**

 **A lot of inspiration for the other items in the Nakai Museum of Oddities came from various Japanese RPG horror. The porcelain dolls are from Mad Father, the painting is loosely based on Ib, and the book that kills anyone who reads it is a shout-out to The Witch's House. I may draw inspiration from other Japanese horror RPG, since they're so awesome.**

 **Did you know that there's an Ao Oni: The Animation? Of all the Japanese horror RPGs…**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading, let me know what you think!**


	3. A Neglected Memory

**I was gonna condense this part and the next and release them together, but I'm struggling with it and this part ended up being longer than I thought it was. I guess it just feels short because not much happens. Sorry about that. I am working on this, I promise!**

"So the girl ran for the exit." Monk grinned maniacally, Kara sitting in front of him, completely captivated. "But the door wouldn't open. Since it didn't have a lock on it, she and her two friends started freaking out. So they all ran back into the school theatre, only to find that all their damage had been undone, and a rope noose was swinging from the gallows, back and forth, back and forth…" Monk mimicked the swinging with his hand, and Kara followed it with wide eyes until she fell sideways onto the couch.

"Monk," I scolded, coming up behind him with a platter of tea in hand. "Isn't that the plot to that horror movie you went to see a few weeks ago?"

Monk turned back and grinned sheepishly. "Maybe." He admitted.

I rolled my eyes. "Please don't tell 14A stories to my nine-year-old... charge." I stumbled on my words, careful not to call Kara my daughter. "I don't want her to have nightmares tonight."

Ayako looked up from the newspapers Naru had her looking through. "You bring her along on a real ghost hunt and you're worried that some lame horror movie plot will freak her out?" She raised her eyebrow, waiting for an answer.

Monk put a small rope—a prop he was using to tell the story—on the table and glared at Ayako "That movie wasn't lame. It was a true horror experience."

She rolled her eyes. "It had the stupidest horror movie plot I've ever seen." She argued. "Considering how often you drag me out to watch those ridiculous things, I'd say that's pretty impressive."

Monk balked. "I can't go alone!" He exclaimed. "And Mai and John are scaredy cats, so I can't bring them."

"Hey," I protested, nudging him as I set his tea down in front of him. "Horror movies are made to scare people, so why wouldn't they scare me?"

Kara jumped onto her knees. "You weren't scared of Tatchibana," she pointed out. "So are fake ghosts scarier than real ghosts?"

I grinned nervously, thinking back to the innocent ghost from our last case. In all honesty, I had been pretty freaked when she first appeared, but Kara didn't need to know that. "Well, Tatchibana didn't want to hurt anyone." I pointed out. "Ryo, on the other hand… Well, I was pretty scared of him. Besides, movies use music and timing to build up the tension. Real life doesn't have things like that."

Kara lay back down. "I like horror movies." She declared. "I'm not allowed to watch them, though, so I watch trailers all the time instead."

I frowned slightly, wondering if I should be paying closer attention to her computer usage. I figured the safest approach for now was to change the topic. "Kara, how about you go get changed? It's time for bed."

"Awww, do I have to?"

"Yes," I insisted, lifting Kara off the couch by the hand. "Go on. Masako should already be there."

Kara waved to Ayako and Monk and left the room. I watched her until she reached the stairs, then went back into the room and closed the door.

Naru, who'd been at the other end of the room doing an equipment check with Lin, started walking in our direction with his arms crossed and that 'my brain is working a lot faster than yours right now' look on his face.

Monk jumped on the chance to talk before Naru could escape. "So Naru," He said. "What do you think this is?"

Naru paused to look at us. "It's too early to say." He answered. "Lin and I have been reviewing the security tapes and it appears as though the activity itself is genuine, so we can rule out a hoax, at least."

Ayako put down her newspaper. "Maybe it's human." She suggested. "The stuff they described sounded like basic poltergeist activity to me."

Naru immediately shot her down. "I have no reason to believe the cause of this activity is human." He said. "The only viable suspects would be frequent customers of the museum, nearby residents with a strong affinity to the location, and members of the staff. The location is isolated and there are no notable frequent customers, so the first two options can be ruled out. As for the staff, no one under the age of 30 is employed and all have undergone screenings for psychic ability as part of the business's safety procedures. They cannot be responsible for the phenomenon."

Monk put his feet up on the table, knocking a few newspapers over, which earned him a scowl from Ayako. "Do you think the attractions might actually be behind it? They got some serious stuff here. Maybe they're messing with things better left alone."

"It's a definite possibility." Naru said.

"But there's been no change in their procedures." I pointed out. "There's always a chance that there could be a site bound spirit here, or it could be something like a curse."

Naru closed his eyes for a moment. I wondered, a little smugly, if he was annoyed that I'd made a valid point. "As it stands, there isn't enough data to suggest what might be the true cause of the problem." He said. Looking to me, he added. "Mai, in the morning I want you and Monk to question members of the staff on their experiences here." He turned to Ayako. "Ayako, I want you to continue researching the history of the location. Once Yasu arrives, you can join him. John and Miss Hara will be conducting a more detailed analysis of the attractions." Completing his instructions, he took a cup of tea off my platter and left the room.

Just as he started closing the door behind him, I called out "Don't forget to check on Kara!"

He closed the door, showing no signs that he heard me, but I was pretty confident that he did.

Ayako glumly started stacking the newspapers, preparing for the next day's work. "So," she started. "What's the story with Kara?"

I froze. "I told you," I said tightly. "We're watching her while her new home is being built."

Monk jumped into the conversation. "But why is she with you guys? Why wouldn't she be staying with her parents?"

"Well, she's from an orphanage. She's an orphan." I tried, doing my best to stick as close to the truth as possible.

Ayako narrowed her eyes at me. "But you said her parents knew she was coming with us." She pointed out.

Crap, I did say that. Jeez, Naru, why did you have to make this complicated? "Did I?" I forced what I thought might be a sheepish grin. "I meant the orphanage leaders. All the kids are staying at other places. Naru and I took Kara in because she's got PK."

"Really?" Monk said. The tension slowly dissipated. "What can she do?"

I sighed, glad that I'd diverted their attention. "Well, she can control things like balls and marbles. Sometimes glass shatters when she gets upset. There's also… well, Naru would know better, since he's been working on it with her." I'd almost mention her PK-LT abilities, but for some reason, I didn't feel comfortable sharing that.

"That sounds pretty impressive." Ayako answered admiringly. "Does she show any sign of psychic abilities?"

"Not really, no." I answered. "I thought she might be at first because she could tell Naru and I both had psychic abilities, but it turns out she's just a really smart girl. She figured it out by watching us."

"I have noticed that she talks like someone a lot older than nine." Monk noted. "Has she been tested?"

I shook my head. "The orphanage used private tutors, so none of the kids were ever tested. Mostly the kids advanced at their own pace. I think Kara might actually be a year or two ahead of her age group."

Ayako smiled. "I wouldn't be surprised." She said. "How about we go join those girls upstairs? It's gonna be a long day tomorrow." She glared at the stack of papers, as though they'd personally offended her.

"Sure," I put the now empty tray down on the counter, then followed Ayako out the door. I waved back at Monk, saying "Goodnight!" He waved back just as the door closed.

When we got upstairs, I found Kara was in her PJs and ready for bed. She was sitting at the foot of Masako's bed across from Masako, who was calmly explaining her ability to sense spirits.

"Often I get an image," She was saying. "Like on a TV. Sometimes it is more fuzzy then others. Usually whether I get an image or not depends on the type of spirit it is and whether something is keeping it from communicating."

"I wish I could see ghosts like you." Kara said. "The only time I see them is when they want me to. That's not as fun. It's just kinda scary."

"Kind of scary?" Ayako jumped in. "I think ghosts are a little more than kind of scary. Personally, I'm glad that my many talents don't include seeing ghosts all the time." Ayako flipped her hair, and Kara giggled.

Masako turned a glare to Ayako. "At least my talent is consistently useful. The only time you're useful is when you're standing in the middle of a forest."

Ayako tensed. It was easy to get on her nerves when bringing up how often her spiritual powers did nothing on cases. I thought her power was pretty cool, but it's true that it didn't come in handy very often. "Well," Ayako started, sounding like a bickering teenager, which was ironic because she was the oldest in the room. "At least I can catch the attention of the men I want."

Ayako jerked back, just as shocked by what she'd said as the rest of us. An awkward silence prevailed. Masako had blushed a deep red, either from embarrassment or anger, I couldn't tell. Probably both. Kara looked back and forth from Masako to Ayako, looking utterly confused.

I cleared my throat nervously, trying to break the tension. "Hey, it's not Masako's fault." I said, trying to force a joking tone. "It's impossible to get through to Naru. Even if you shove your feelings down his throat."

Masako and Ayako turned away from each other to look at me with mirroring expressions of pity. I blushed slightly. I hadn't meant to turn the topic to me. I definitely hadn't meant to bring _that_ up.

"Fair enough," Ayako admitted. "You made yourself pretty clear to him, and he still wouldn't accept it."

"What? What happened?" Kara asked me, suddenly eager. "What did you make clear to him?"

I sighed, turning to pull my things out of my suitcase so I wouldn't have to look at the others while I explained. "A few years ago, when I first started working for Naru, I would have dreams with Naru in it that would tell me things about the cases we were working on. It turned out that the person in my dreams was the ghost of Naru's twin brother Gene. The thing is, I started liking Naru before I knew that, so it made my feelings super confusing when I found out. A lot of stuff happened and we found Gene's body and everything, and just as Naru was about to go back to England I decided that it was definitely Naru I liked and I should tell him before he left. So I told him I loved him-"

"Actually, you kinda screamed at him." Ayako butted in.

"Whatever!" I glanced up for a moment to shoot a glare at Ayako. "So I told him I loved him, all crying and stuff, and he just looked at me and said 'me, or Gene?' And he just left it at that and we haven't talked about it since. He's probably forgotten about it by now."

I took a deep breath, feeling a nice sense of relief. It'd been almost two years since I talked about that with anyone. Even though Masako and Ayako knew the story, it felt good to go over it again and vent a little bit. Feeling a little braver, I looked up at the group.

Kara was sitting with her arms crossed, giving me a look that made me feel like she was the mom and I was the kid. "He didn't forget." She said confidently. "There's no way."

"Even so," Ayako said, leaning against the bed. "It's pretty harsh the way he shot you down."

"It was rather insensitive." Masako admitted as well. "I was surprised that you agreed to work with him again when he returned." She added, a little disgruntled. She might be my friend most of the time, but I knew she hadn't wanted me to work for Naru again with my feelings out in the open like that. Not that it made the slightest bit of difference. Even when he came back and offered me my job back, he made no mention of my confession. In the years that followed, neither of us have so much as whispered about it. I might as well have never said anything in the first place.

"But he didn't shot you down." Kara said, fumbling a little with her grammar. The three of us looked at her in confusion. She explained. "He didn't say no, and he didn't say he doesn't feel the same. He just didn't think that you really liked him."

I blinked, surprised. Naru's response at the time felt a whole lot like a rejection. Every time I'd played it over in my head, it still felt like a rejection, and I did that way more often then I care to admit. But now that Kara had said it, I realised she was right. It hadn't been a rejection, not really. It was super infuriating that Naru couldn't at the very least trust me to know my own feelings, but suddenly I was feeling a spark of hope, something I hadn't felt in a long time.

Maybe I still had a chance after all.


	4. Scattered Pieces

**To compensate for being horribly absent for so long, I have returned with an extra long chapter!**

… **still mad? Yeah? Sorry.**

 **Anyways, enjoy!**

 **I don't own Ghost Hunt and all that.**

"Don't be shy. Start from the beginning, and tell us everything you remember."

The security guard shifted uncomfortably in the wooden chair, his nervous expression making him look a lot younger than he actually was. Monk and I waited patiently for him to start. I gripped my pen tightly, anticipating a longer story than the last one.

"I've heard a lot of things during my shift." He admitted slowly. "I started working the night shift around two months ago. It was a quiet shift at first. Uneventful. Sometimes the occasional teenager tried to sneak in, but you shine a light in their eyes and they scatter like rabbits." He grimaced. "Around a month ago, I started hearing whispers in the halls. I couldn't make out any words, but the voices sounded young, so I figured it was those teenagers. The thing is, no matter where I looked, I couldn't find anyone who shouldn't be there. Those whispers, though, they kept happening, and every night they got louder. About a week ago, it got loud enough that I could make out the words. It didn't make sense, though."

"What exactly was being said?" Monk pressed.

The guard twiddled with his thumbs, keeping his eyes fixed on a crack in the desk between us. "Sounded like some girls giggling, and a kid said "keep going", and some other kid- probably a boy- asking "Where are you?", but he didn't sound like he was seriously looking for something, it was more like… taunting, I guess."

"Is there anything else you can think of?" I asked.

The guard looked up and met my eyes, and I was immediately taken aback. His eyes were full of fear, but there was something else I couldn't quite place, something that made my skin crawl. He said "Well, I can tell you, those dolls, they move around sometimes at night. It isn't unusual or anything. I hear Edward and those porcelains have been strolling around since we got them. They got that glass case around Edward to stop it, you know? Cause he was breaking stuff at night. The thing is, it isn't just them that's moving anymore. Their shadows move around too, and they don't move with the doll. I swear I've seen Edward's shadow in my office a couple times."

I scribbled furiously as he spoke, trying to distract myself from the creepy by focusing on taking notes. Still, I couldn't help but imagine seeing the shadow of that freaky doll in my room while I slept.

A cold shiver ran through my body. I really hate having an active imagination. There's no way I'd get that image out of my head anytime soon.

Monk stood up and shot a smile at the guard. "Thanks, you've been a big help." He said. The guard followed his lead and stood up, nodding politely as Monk held open the door for him. The guard scurried out of the room without so much as glancing back.

I sighed and leaned back, flipping through my notepad. That guard had been the eleventh person we'd talked to so far that day. He'd given a lot more detail than the others had, but the gist of it was the same: voices, shadows, and creepy dolls. Other than that, there's been a random series of scratches on the walls and the occasional story of someone being touched—the woman who'd almost got hurt in the freezer, for instance, hadn't actually been pushed but had been lightly touched, which startled her so bad that she tripped and fell.

Monk closed the door and came back to the table, his arms crossed. "It's sounding more and more like those dolls are the problem here." He said. "What's the deal with those things?"

"We can ask John and Masako about it later." I answered. "I bet you Kara knows something about them, too."

"Kara didn't want to come with you for the interviews?" Monk asked, sitting down in his chair.

I shook my head. "She wanted to help Ayako." I said. I started gathering the papers on the desk into a neat pile. "Yasu should be there by now. That guard was the last guy that was supposed to come talk to us. You wanna head over?"

"Sure."

I picked the stack of notes off the desk and Monk and I headed out of the room. We'd monopolized the staff break room to do the interviews, and we'd had a steady influx of people for the past couple hours. Mr. Yukito had gone so far as to assign each person a time slot to come see us, although he himself wasn't around, which was a shame since I had a few questions for him. I didn't mind waiting for him to come back, but Naru would hate it.

Too bad, I thought. The guy had to be at his son's school today. Naru would have to be patient—after all, it won't be that long before Naru's making trips to schools for Kara's sake.

An image of Naru standing in the office of an elementary school popped into my head, and I choked on a laugh.

"You okay?" Monk paused, raising an eyebrow at me.

I nodded and gestured for him to keep going, not trusting myself to talk. I hid my grin behind my notes, hoping that Monk wouldn't press it. Thankfully, he didn't.

Back at the security office, Ayako and Kara were sprawled around a table overflowing with newspapers and articles. Ayako had taken to the floor and was glaring at the table like it was a difficult puzzle she couldn't solve. Kara was lying upside-down on the couch and was reading an old newspaper. Lin was at the monitors at the other end of the room, and sitting a few screens away from him with a laptop of his own was Yasu.

Everyone (except Lin) looked up when Monk and I walked in. Kara casually flipped backwards off the couch and bounced over to me, showing off the newspaper. "Look! Did you know there's this ice festival in town every winter? They make sculptures!"

Monk laughed. I tried not to, but I couldn't help grinning. "That's cool, Kara," I said, "But I don't think that's the sort of thing you're looking for, is it?"

Kara blushed a little. I rustled her hair affectionately, then turned to Yasu. "Hey Yasu!"

"Hey Mai, Monk." He grinned at us. "Long time, no see. What have you been up to?"

"Same old stuff," I shrugged. "Ghosts, tea, nearly dying and all. How's school?"

Monk elbowed me in the side. "Same old stuff?" He scoffed. "You're taking care of a kid."

I almost flew into a panic, until I realised that he wasn't implying a long-term thing. I felt my face flush from my suddenly pounding heart. "R-right," I stuttered. "Kara, did you introduce yourself to Yasu?"

Kara nodded proudly. "Yasu says I should call him big bro."

Okay, I know Yasu had no idea that Kara was my adopted daughter, and it was just like him to say something like that to Kara, but the implication was horrifying. "Yasu!" I scolded, body heat rising alarmingly fast.

Yasu waved his hand, as though it was no big deal. "So what's going on with this place?" He asked. "I heard you two were doing interviews."

Monk and I shared a look. "A lot of people are complaining about those dolls." Monk answered.

"They say Edward and the porcelain dolls move around during the night." I added.

Ayako called out indignantly "What, so the dolls are the issue? You mean I've been fighting with these papers for nothing?!"

"That's not all!" I protested, not wanting to annoy Ayako. "There's also been whispers, and scratches on the walls, and some people have even been touched. It might not be related."

Monk crossed his arms. "I doubt it," He argued. I glared at him, but he was oblivious. "I'm willing to bet they'd solve all their problems if they got rid of those dolls."

"I wouldn't be too sure," Yasu shot back. He went back to his seat and grabbed his laptop, then went over to the couch and opened it up. We all gathered around him. He pulled up an article captioned 'Teens Still Missing After Friday Disappearance'.

"Four teens went missing on the property around fifteen years ago," He explained. "No evidence of foul play, but two of them were never found. The kids in the area liked to use this building for tests of courage at the time."

"They're not the only ones." Ayako continued smugly, glaring discreetly at Monk. "About fourteen years before that, the last owner of the house died on the property."

"Peacefully," Kara added. "One of the papers I read said he had a son that got sick and died when he was little."

Yasu finished "As far as we can tell, those are the only potential deaths related to the location."

Monk thought about that for a few moments. "That's disturbing." He admitted.

Kara jumped back onto the couch, sending a few papers flying. "They have a bunch of problems here." She declared cheerfully.

Just then, Masako and John entered the room, the former looking pale and clammy, gripping her arms tightly. Everyone rushed to the entrance, crowding around the pair.

"Masako, are you okay?" I asked, steering her to the couch so she could sit down. Kara moved over, tossing papers onto the table to give her room.

Masako nodded. "I'm sorry, it is a little overwhelming." She said. I rushed over to the corner of the room where a small kitchenette was functioning as my tea station and set the water to boil. I figured she could use a cup right now.

John pulled up a chair and sat down across from Masako, smiling at her gently, encouraging her to explain. Everyone else watched Masako in anticipation as she slowly caught her breath.

"There are many spirits here," Masako declared. "Most seem to be attached to one of the attractions. The wooden figures in the hanging room and the porcelain dolls appear to be possessed. The Edward doll… I'm not sure. I can sense some sort of spirit attached to it, but it is unlike anything I've ever felt before."

"Is it demonic?" Monk asked.

Masako shook her head slowly. "I don't think so. I've sensed demonic entities before. This… is different. I believe there is also an additional presence on the property that is not attached to the attractions, but I can't get a clear image. It feels as though something is oppressing my senses."

My eyes widened. I realised that, though my instincts were going wild, I'd been here for almost 24 hours without having a single vision, which was really weird. I hadn't even had any creepy dreams last night. Maybe my senses were being oppressed too.

"It seems we have a significant list of potential suspects."

My heart jumped into my throat at the sound of the new voice. Dammit, Naru, could you maybe not sneak up on me for once? I whirled around and had to force myself not to take a step back. He wasn't exactly in my personal space, but he was standing pretty close.

He continued as though he'd been part of the conversation from the start. "The owner who died was Naoi Tsukami. His son, Yuki Tsukami, died when he was thirteen. Either of them might be responsible for the additional presence on the property."

"It could be one of those teenagers," Ayako pointed out.

"It's unlikely," Naru shot her down. She scowled at him. "Further investigation into their disappearance revealed that none of them actually vanished on the property. The group lost track of each other in the woods on the way back. In all likelihood, the two who were never found met with an accident in the forest."

"So they'd have no reason to be attached to the property," I clarified, more for Kara's sake than my own. "So we have possessed porcelain dolls and wooden figurines, maybe a possessed Edward doll, and a site bound spirit, either the owner or his son."

Naru gave me that patient look while I spoke, one that said 'let's all wait for the slow one to catch up'. Irritation bubbled in my chest, but I bit my tongue. I'd always suspected Naru irritated me on purpose, but after spending the last few weeks with him, I knew for sure that annoying me was Naru's personal form of entertainment. I couldn't let him rile me up.

Naru seemed to wait a second for me to comment. When I didn't, he continued calmly. "I'm more concerned about whatever is oppressing Miss Hara's senses." He looked me in the eye. "Mai, are you feeling this oppression?"

Surprised by his question, my irritation fizzled. "Not exactly," I admitted. "But I haven't had any visions or dreams yet."

"Unusual for you, particularly in a location as crowded as this one." He noted. "First, we need to determine which of the entities are causing damage. Monk, John, and Ayako, tonight I want each of you to try and draw out the spirits. Ayako, you'll be covering the entrance and the second and third exhibits. John, I want you in the dining hall. Monk, you'll be covering the first exhibit."

"Great," Monk grumbled. "I get to hang out with the dolls." Mumbling a few things about rotten luck, Monk left the room, probably going to grab his Monk tools out of his suitcase.

The kettle whistled, and I went over to pour Masako's tea. I made up Naru's cup while I was at it, and brought both back over to the two. Masako gave me a grateful look, and Ayako offered to bring her back up to the room to rest. Masako hesitated for a second, glancing at Naru, then me, but decided to accept the offer. I was surprised. She must've been much more exhausted than she looked. John followed the two girls out of the room.

Yasu went back to his laptop, and Kara went with him. I was about to go join them when Naru stopped me.

"Have you spoken to Mr. Yukito?" He asked.

I gave him a stern look. "He left this morning to go to his son's school, remember?" I told him. "He said he'll be back tomorrow."

Annoyance flashed across his face. I smirked. I knew he would hate it. I added "Don't get all huffy. He has a responsibility to his family."

He narrowed his eyes, but he didn't say anything. That wasn't an argument he could win, and he knew it.

After taking a moment to bask in the self-gratification, I changed the subject. "Kara's going to be up past her bedtime if we're all working into the night."

"She'll fall asleep on the couch." Naru said. "You know she doesn't function past ten."

I smiled. "That's true." Kara couldn't stay awake past ten, and she fell asleep very fast. Naru had carried her to bed two days in a row before we'd figured that out. It occurred to me that he'd probably be doing the same tonight. The others were going to have heart attacks.

Naru narrowed his eyes, staring at me for a couple seconds in a way that was somehow unnerving. I tensed up and my voice caught in my throat.

Naru didn't seem to notice my discomfort. After a couple more seconds of this, he sighed and said " _Please_ try not to do anything irrational tonight."

I might've been excited that he used the word please if it'd been a little less insulting. "I don't _try_ to get into dangerous situations, you know!"

"I know," He answered. His lips almost twitched into a smirk. "That's why it's concerning."

I glared, hating that I couldn't argue with that. His eyes glinted triumphantly as he turned to join Lin at the monitors.

It wasn't until later that I realised that Naru had kind of just admitted to being _worried_ about me.

* * *

The museum cleared of customers around eight, and come nine almost all the staff had cleared out as well. The only ones who stuck around were a couple of security guards. Their names were Toshio and Yoshikawa, and they'd both gracefully vacated the room to allow for our work, opting to patrol the perimeter while we were busy inside the building.

Naru, Lin, Yasu, Masako, Kara and I gathered around the wall of monitors while Monk, John and Ayako panned out to the places Naru had assigned them. The silence in the building was so intense that their footsteps echoed faintly all the way back to the base.

I kept my eyes mostly on Monk, since he was the one in the supernatural section of the museum. I watched as he carefully laid out his tools. I wasn't sure if it was intentional or random, but he'd set himself up facing Edward the Doll.

Around nine-thirty, the three spiritualists were all set. Monk called over his headset "Ready to go when you are, Naru."

Naru leaned forward on the table. "Start slow. Remember, this is merely to draw the spirits out. If you begin to see any signs of aggression, draw back."

"Got it," Monk answered. He took a deep, steadying breath, and brought his hands together. His mantra flowed like a melody, softly filling the corners of the room. I'd learned over the years that the effect of his mantra relied a lot on the force he spoke with. The softer his tone, the less powerful it was. Monk was only using enough force to nudge whatever might be lurking into action.

We all watched in tense anticipation for a few minutes while Monk seamlessly repeated his mantra. Nothing was showing on the monitors yet, but I knew that didn't mean much. A tingling feeling was crawling down my back, making my hair stand on end. Something was definitely here.

Monk paused in his mantra. "I'm hearing voices." He announced over the headset.

Lin quickly picked up the headphones for the audio feed and dialed the volume up. His dark eyes flicked over to Naru and he gave a slight nod.

"Can you pinpoint the location of the voices without changing your position?" Naru asked quickly.

"Hold on," Monk muttered back quietly. A few more moments of silence followed before Monk's voice came back through. "They're coming from different areas. A few are definitely from that hanging room. The other ones sound like they're moving around. They aren't coming from this area."

Lin fiddled some more with the audio feed. "It sounds like something might be in the dining area." He said.

Naru quickly switched over to John's headset. "John, we're hearing voices in your general vicinity."

John's voice echoed back after a second. "I'm not hearing anything, but I'm seeing shadows. I can't quite make them out. They keep moving around in my peripheral."

As John was talking, Kara tugged at my sleeve and pointed to the dining hall monitor. I gasped quietly. I could see exactly what John was describing. A few indistinct shadows darted around the area, moving too fast to count or even to get a decent sense of their shape.

"Push them out of the dining hall." Naru ordered. "Lead them back to the exhibits."

John immediately pulled out his holy water and whispered a prayer. He sprayed the water in a circle around him. The shadows lingered for a second then faded into the darkness, leaving John in stillness once more.

Masako stared intently at the screen. A small frown had crept up on her. "I believe there are three wandering spirits," She started. "But I cannot sense anything else beyond that."

Naru gave her a small nod of acknowledgement and turned back to watch Monk. "Monk, can you hear what any of the voices are saying?"

"No," Monk answered firmly. "The voices are too muddled. There is something that sounds like laughter."

I heard it.

For a second, I thought my imagination was just reacting to Monk's words, but then it came again. A soft, muffled giggle. Teasing and playful. I felt like the temperature dropped ten degrees. A weight settled in my stomach and goosebumps spread across my skin.

 _Something is watching me._

No sooner had the thought entered my brain that I whipped my head around, looking for an onlooker. I caught him peeking through the window. His eyes met mine for a second, flashing a brilliant red. His face split into a grin.

"Naru,"

My voice was quiet and shaking, but he heard me anyways. Naru froze immediately and turned to look at me. "What is it?" He asked urgently.

I blinked. The boy had already vanished. "There was a boy," I told him, pointing weakly at the window. "He was watching us. His eyes…"

"They were red." Masako finished for me. I glanced at her and realised she'd been looking at him too. "That spirit… how strange."

"What do you mean?" Naru asked her sharply, although he was looking at me.

"Perhaps it is because my senses are being blocked," Masako started. "But I did not sense any negativity from that spirit."

I added. "He kind of just felt… playful."

Naru turned back to the monitors. He watched quietly for a few moments. The shadows hadn't come back, and from the way Lin and Monk were behaving it didn't look like the voices had gotten louder or quieter. Naru closed his eyes for a second and said to Monk. "Stand down, Monk. We have enough data to work with."

Naru switched over to John and Ayako's headsets and repeated the message. The three spiritualists quickly wrapped things up and started to make their way back to base. Ayako grumbled about being the only one not to experience anything, but she wasn't fooling anyone.

Once everyone had gathered back at base, I turned to look for Kara, figuring it was time to get her to bed. I scanned the room and found her curled up in a ball on the couch, fast asleep. I glanced at the clock. Sure enough, it was after ten. No wonder she was out.

Ayako noticed her as soon as she walked in. She stopped and blinked for a few seconds. "After all that, how is she asleep?"

I grinned. "Kara can't stay awake after ten." I answered. "She's tried to before. Never works."

Naru glanced over from the monitors. I eyed him out of the corner of my eye, wondering what he would do. It'd been his idea not to tell the others about Kara in the first place, but I wasn't sure Naru trusted anyone else enough to carry her. Heck, it made him nervous when I carried her. He's a little overprotective.

His inner dad won out. "I'll take her upstairs." He said. Lin and I smirked as Naru went over and scooped the little girl into his arms. The others stared with wide eyes and mouths dropped open as he left the room with Kara.

"Did Naru just volunteer to carry a little girl to bed?" Monk asked incredulously.

"No," Ayako denied. "There's no way. I'm sure we imagined it."

" _You saw that too_?"

I hid my smile behind my hand as Ayako and Monk argued back and forth about whether or not what they saw had really just happened.

I remembered Ayako's comment about how Naru wouldn't know how to take care of a little girl. Their reaction now didn't surprise me, but it was also a little disappointing. I couldn't help but feel like they were misunderstanding him. Of course, they haven't come to know him in quite the same way that I have.

During my first month working at SPR, Naru learned that I was scared of thunderstorms. A huge storm rolled in one afternoon while I was at work. My hands were shaking when I handed him his tea. He didn't say a word, but a couple minutes later he came out of the office and worked silently in the main area for the rest of the day with me. He didn't send me home until the storm passed, even though I'd barely done any work that day.

During the Kazai case, I accidently dragged Naru down into the sewers with me. He cheered me up by doing a little act with his pet coin. That was the first time I'd looked into his eyes and seen genuine laughter, even though his face wasn't smiling.

I got hurt so often on cases, it was only a matter of time before Naru took my first aid into his own hands, much to my embarrassment. I learned that even though his words were harsh, his hands were always gentle.

I couldn't count the number of times Naru put himself in danger for my sake. Sometimes he'd get just as beaten up as me trying to protect me. He'd scold me for getting into trouble and mock my intelligence, but he never complained about getting hurt because of me.

And of course, when Kara essentially adopted Naru, he didn't push her away. He acknowledged her. He's firm with her, but never impatient, never mean. He doesn't mock her. He doesn't hurt her. He turned himself into the exact father figure she needed, because, against all odds, he'd come to care for her just as much as I have, as his own.

The Naru I've come to know is awkward. He doesn't know how to show kindness, and he finds it easier not to. But even so, he's kind and gentle, smart and considerate, caring and loyal. The Naru I know is infuriating and full of himself, but is still a genuinely good person. I put up with him because I know that. I love him because I know that.

Sometimes, though, it'd be kind of nice if the others knew that too.


	5. Promise

**Behold: and update! I CAN do it, even with my current obsession with Fairy Tail! All it takes is a little time reading my favorite Ghost Hunt fanfictions. Not my own—although I'm pretty fond of those too. I'm sure you understand.**

 **This one turned out pretty long, so please enjoy. I'll be editing at a later date, so sorry about grammatical errors to those of you who read this before the editing happens.**

 **I don't own Ghost Hunt.**

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Considering how active it'd been during the investigation, the rest of the night was suspiciously quiet. I still wasn't having any dreams. It was nice to be able to get some decent sleep in a haunted location, but at the same time I was kind of missing them. Those dreams make me feel useful on these cases. Without them, I wasn't sure how much use I could be. Masako was getting frustrated too.

I spent most of the morning going over last night's footage with Yasu and Ayako. We must have listened to the audio at least a hundred times, trying to make out any words, but it was just too indistinct to make out anything other than laughter. So instead, we pulled out a floor plan of the museum and tried to pinpoint the voices.

I started by drawing a circle around the hanging room. "There's definitely voices coming from in here." I said. "And they don't move around."

"That's no surprise," Ayako agreed. "What's important is that they don't move. Obviously the spell on the room is working."

Yasu tapped his pen on the table a few times. "It sounds like the ones that move around come from this area." He circled the section of the museum that included the hanging room, the dolls, and a couple other attractions.

I looked over the attractions he'd circled. "There's more than one voice, so it can't just be Edward." I said.

Ayako suggested "It looks like the best suspects are those porcelain dolls."

Yasu and I both nodded in agreement. Yasu added "I don't know much about those dolls. I haven't come across them before in my research."

I looked over to the couch, where Kara was tackling a puzzle. "Kara?" I called. She paused and looked up at me. "Can you tell us about the porcelain dolls?"

Her face lit up and she bounced over to us. "The dolls!" She started. "Made by an obsessive doctor after losing his wife. He would kill his patients and use their skin to make the dolls. Some stories say he even did it to his own daughter."

An unexpected flash of anger flared up in my stomach. To his own daughter? How could anyone do that to their own daughter?

"Were the patients children?" Yasu asked.

Kara answered. "Some of them. Not all."

"The security measures against them aren't that good either." Ayako added. "You're not supposed to touch them, right? Putting a sign up doesn't mean that people are going to follow it."

A knock at the door interrupted our brainstorming. I turned to look, wondering who would bother to knock, and saw that it was Mr. Yukito. Finally. I'd been waiting for him to show up all morning.

"Hope I'm not interrupting," He started.

"Oh no, don't worry about it." I answered, jumping to my feet and going over to meet him. "Actually, I was kind of hoping I could ask you a few more questions."

"Of course," He answered. He looked down to his side, and I realised with a sudden shock that he wasn't alone. "Raiden, how about you go to my office and wait there?"

The little boy didn't acknowledge that he heard his father. His light brown eyes were trained on something behind me. I turned to follow his gaze and found Kara, standing just behind me, staring back at him.

"Hi," Raiden said. "I'm Raiden."

"I'm Kara," She answered shyly.

"Did you see my dad's museum?" Raiden asked.

"Mhm." Kara mumbled. "It's cool."

The two children studied each other silently for a moment, and I was strangely reminded of a time back in middle school when a friend of mine introduced her new cat to her dog for the first time. Their stances were wary, but their eyes sparkled and a single question passed silently between them: friend or foe?

Raiden grinned, breaking the rising tension. "You wanna go again? I know all the stories. Even the ones they don't tell you here."

Kara looked up at me with wide eyes. I smiled and nodded, trying really hard to contain my excitement. A friend! A friend for Kara!

Kara looked back at the boy. "Okay," She answered timidly. Raiden reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the room.

Mr. Yukito chuckled as they vanished around the corner. "That boy just can't help himself when he finds someone who wants to listen to his stories. I hope your daughter is a patient one."

"Oh, she loves this stuff too." I answered automatically. His words suddenly processed, and I remembered that Ayako and Yasu were both in the room with me. "Oh, uh, she's not… I'm just watching her." I tried correcting him, finding myself unable to lie straight out.

"I apologize." He answered swiftly. "I was assuming based on your demeanor. Of course the ages don't line up."

Although I knew it was true, his tone still kind of irked me. "How old is Raiden?" I asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from my relationship to Kara.

"Eleven." Mr. Yukito answered.

"Does he spend a lot of time here?"

"Not much," He answered. "He accompanies me here occasionally on the weekends. Raiden is fascinated by the supernatural, but his mother doesn't approve of it."

"I see," I muttered, jotting it down on my notepad. It had nothing to do with what I wanted to ask him about, but a little extra information never hurt. I continued "I was wondering if you could tell me more about the security features for the dolls. The porcelain ones, specifically."

Mr. Yukito and I drifted over to sit on the couch while he answered. "What is most important about those dolls is not touching them. The footage for the dolls are carefully monitored during business hours, although the concern is more for the guest than the museum. Touching them does not trigger paranormal activity in the area per say, but it does follow the offender around. It isn't known to be violent, like Edward's curse, just disturbing. From the reports we've had, the activity consists mostly of noises and shadows."

I took a second to finish writing and moved on to my next question. "So Edward's curse is violent?"

"Edward's curse is very simple." He responded. "A person who disrespects the doll will meet with some sort of accident that causes physical harm to the person in question or someone close to them. I'd say most of the time it's a broken bone, but there have been rare instances of more serious injuries."

A cold chill ran down my spine. It would be just my luck to accidently do something to offend the doll and end up in the hospital for a few weeks.

As if sensing my discomfort, Mr. Yukito quickly added. "We take great care with the doll, of course. The only people truly at risk are the doll's caretakers. The only thing any other person could do to offend him would be to take his picture without asking first. Naturally, we have permission to use the security camera on him."

That made me feel about one percent better. "So, you said there had been damage to the property." I pressed on. "What exactly would those damages be?"

"We get the occasional glass decoration breaking, but that does not concern me. What does concern me is that there have been scratches appearing on the walls. So far it has done little damage, but the scratches have been migrating slowly toward the spell work both around the hanging room and around the building itself."

I stopped. "Wait, there's a spell on the whole building? Aside from the one on the hanging room?"

He smiled, looking either proud or smug, I couldn't decide. "Yes. There is a weaker barrier surrounding the entire building, meant to dampen paranormal activity. This is another reason why the rise in activity is concerning, especially since the spell has yet to be damaged."

I had to admit I was kind of impressed. The spell around the room was intricate enough, but to have one surrounding the whole building? I'd have to go looking for it later on. Jotting it down, I quickly moved onto my next question. "So what's the deal with the hanging room?" I asked him.

His face darkened. "I cannot accurately describe it. Just know that the forces within are powerful and dangerous. If they were to be released, this building would not be safe anymore."

A part of me wanted to press him for more details, but there was a look of warning in his eyes that stopped me. Maybe some things were better left unknown.

Later during the day, I relayed the conversation to Naru as he was going through some documents Ayako had sorted out for him.

"I'd noticed the spell work around the building yesterday. I'm glad Mr. Yukito confirmed it." He started. A twinge of annoyance shot through me. Of course Naru noticed it. It's just like him to note something important like that and then say absolutely nothing about it. "This explains the oppression both you and Miss Hara are experiencing. A spell intended to oppress paranormal activity would certainly affect the abilities of both latent psychics and mediums." He closed the folder in his hands and set it on the table in front of him. "The activity in the building lines up with the activity associated with the porcelain dolls, however there are a few things that don't quite add up." His eyes flicked over to me. "What's your feeling?"

The question surprised me. He'd been deferring to me on a lot of things since adopting Kara, but I didn't think I would ever hear him ask me that on a case. "Well…" I started, thinking about the exhibits and the many interviews. "I definitely think those porcelain dolls have something to do with it… but I feel like there's something else going on too."

"I agree," He said, shocking me again. His eyes got that faraway look he gets when he's thinking hard about something. After a second he focused again and turned back to me, asking "Where's Kara?"

I felt my face split into a wide grin. "Kara found herself a friend." I answered proudly. "Mr. Yukito's son, Raiden. He's eleven. They've been playing around in the building all afternoon. I've been keeping an eye on her through the cameras."

"I see," He answered dismissively, but I could tell by the way he almost smiled that he was just as excited as I was about Kara making a new friend. After all, Kara had never had a proper friend before. The nineteen other children in the orphanage she grew up in had avoided her like the plague owing to her PK.

"I told her to be back for supper." I added.

Naru looked like he was about comment, but before he did, his eyes widened slightly and a spark lit up within them. "The boy, Raiden," He asked suddenly. "Is he often in the museum?"

I checked my notes, knowing that I'd written that down somewhere. "Not often," I answered. "Apparently he spends weekends here sometimes. Mr. Yukito said that he's fascinated by the supernatural, but his mom doesn't approve."

"I see." He said, his eyes narrowing. His sudden fascination with Raiden confused me. Why would it matter if he's often at the museum?

And then I remembered.

" _I have no reason to believe the cause of this activity is human. The only viable suspects would be frequent customers of the museum, nearby residents with a strong affinity to the location, and members of the staff. The location is isolated and there are no notable frequent customers, so the first two options can be ruled out. As for the staff, no one under the age of 30 is employed and all have undergone screenings for psychic ability as part of the business's safety procedures."_

Raiden isn't a member of the staff, so he wouldn't have undergone the psychic screenings. He was young. He was at the museum often enough to be a frequent customer, and his dad owns the property.

… But still, that didn't make sense. Raiden wasn't on the property last night during our investigation, and voices like the ones we caught can't be attributed to poltergeists. The damage could be a case of poltergeisting, but I'd never heard of a human based poltergeist being aware enough to target something specific, especially in someone so young.

Of course, I knew better than to say any of that out loud. I'm sure Naru knew all that, and saying it would just invite Naru to insult my intelligence in some way. I was not going to give him that opportunity.

"Mai?"

I turned my attention back to Naru. His eyes had morphed from pensive into their usual smugness, and I could guess what he was going to say before he opened his mouth to say it.

"Tea."

I turned with a sigh, answering "Yes boss."

* * *

"So Kara, do you like Raiden?"

Kara looked up from the book she was reading and grinned. "Yep." She answered me. "He likes paranormal stuff like me. He knows lots of the stories I know."

I smiled back. "That's good." I told her. "Do you think you'd like the play with him some more once we're done with our work?"

Kara's eyes widened. "Yes please!"

I held back a laugh. "I'll see what I can do." I promised her. I made a mental note to talk with Mr. Yukito about it tomorrow.

The team was all gathered at the base, preparing various things for the upcoming night investigation. Ayako wasn't in her full getup this time, but she was preparing a few wards with Masako. Monk and John were fully prepped, organizing all their tools of the trade. Lin and Naru were going over the new camera angles they'd adjusted earlier and Yasu was typing away on his laptop. Kara was relaxing on the couch while I stood with a now empty tray, having just finished handing everyone their cups of tea (everyone meaning Lin, Yasu, Masako, and of course Naru).

It was going to be all hands on deck this time. Naru was assigning everyone a doll to watch. The porcelains, with the help of museum staff, had been separated earlier that day so that we could pinpoint which one of the dolls was causing issues. Masako, Ayako and John each had one doll to watch. Monk had another, plus Edward. Naru had tried to claim the last doll for himself, but Lin argued against it, so the last one was going to be watched by both Lin and Naru. Yasu and I were watching the monitors at home base with Kara.

"All right," Naru started, stepping back from the screens. "There won't be any form of provocation this time. Our presence alone, coupled with the movement of the dolls earlier, should be enough to stir them into activity. If you experience anything at all, relay it the others. Remember not to touch the dolls under any circumstance."

Everyone nodded, making some sound of acknowledgement, and dispersed to go to their designated spots. I slipped into the chair that Lin vacated at the monitors. Yasu sat next to me, while Kara came up behind me and leaned against my chair.

As Naru was leaving, he flashed me a warning look, one that very clearly said 'do NOT do anything stupid'. I glared back at him, but I'm not sure he noticed it before leaving the room.

 _Come on, Naru_ , I thought. _I'm not the one who's actually facing the haunted dolls_. If anyone needs to be careful, it's him.

At the same time, I was both shocked and elated that he'd given me that look, and I'd understood it perfectly.

It was almost ten when we started, and Kara was already starting to nod off. Everyone else was tense with anticipation.

By ten-thirty, the little girl was sound asleep on the couch, and the team had yet to experience anything. Yasu and I started playing around with Kara's set of marbles.

By eleven-thirty, Ayako was starting to complain about needing her beauty sleep, which Monk quickly started teasing her about. This went on for about ten minutes before Naru got fed up with it and told them to shut up.

At around midnight, we started to hear voices.

My hand froze in the middle of a doodle as the faint echo of a child's laugh came through the headphones. I glanced back to make sure Kara was still asleep on the couch, which she was, and then turned to the monitors.

"Did anyone else just hear a laugh?" Ayako asked.

Yasu sat up straight in his chair, suddenly alert. "I did." He answered. "Mai?"

"I heard it too." I confirmed, searching the monitors. "I'm not seeing anything, though."

"Stay alert." Came Naru's voice. "Something will show up."

Another few minutes of tense silence followed, and then another laugh was heard, louder and clearer than before.

Monk stood up off his chair. "Okay, I definitely heard that this time." He said. "But I can't tell where it came from."

"It sounded like it was coming from all around me, but at the same time it sounded far away." John interjected.

A third laugh sounded through the halls. This time everyone got up and started looking around for the source, but the monitors weren't showing anything.

"Naru," Lin's voice said urgently.

Yasu and I both turned to their monitor, and I gasped. Naru swore and sped out of the room. "The doll vanished." He reported to the others. "Lin and I are going to look. Everyone else, stay put and don't take your eyes off those dolls."

"Naru," Monk called out. "I had shadow movement in here for a few seconds, but it's gone now."

"Mai, Yasu, did you catch that?" Naru asked.

I turned back to the other monitors, scanning for any sign of shadow movement or Naru's missing doll. "No," I answered quickly. "Nothing's showing up."

Yasu gripped my wrist. "Wait," He said, pointing to a monitor showing the back portion of the dining hall. "Isn't that…?"

I took in the shape on the monitor, and my blood ran cold. I looked back to the couch in disbelief. Sure enough, the spot where Kara had been sleeping soundly just moments ago was empty.

Before I could process what I was doing, I shot out of my chair and ran out of the room. I didn't care that the activity was getting worse. I didn't care that one of the dolls was missing. I didn't care that I was horribly prone to misfortune and Naru was not going to be happy if I got myself hurt because of this. Logic had been forcefully ejected from my brain and a dark memory flooded the corners of my mind.

 _I looked around, only to find that I was completely alone. I could've sworn she'd followed me into the basement…_

 _"Kara?"_

 _My voice echoed against the stone walls, meeting nothing but silence._

No! Not again. _Not again_.

"KARA!"

I shot around the corners, completely ignoring the fact that Yasu had followed me. The others were calling over the headset, demanding to know what was going on. Yasu shot them a quick explanation, and the others quickly abandoned their posts to come help.

I caught up to her in the dining room, but came to a halt when I realised she was facing someone else. I couldn't quite make out the features, but it was definitely a young girl. She had long black hair that flowed straight down her back and skin so pale it was practically white, contrasting starkly against her blue dress. Her eyes, a deep blue, flickered from Kara to me. Her lips twisted into a smile and a voice echoed right into my mind.

" _Where?"_

The others started to catch up, but they also froze when they saw the girl.

" _Where are you?"_

A shadow flickered around behind the girl. It was just a shadow, but I could swear it was Edward.

" _I'll find you."_

The girl vanished abruptly, and the shadow darted around the room. The hairs on my arm stood up just as the tables began to shake. "Kara!" I called. "Come here!"

Kara turned to look at me, but before she could take a step, the tables started flying, one of them heading straight for her. The sound made her turn before I could scream for her to move. She saw the table and yelped. My heart stopped as I watched the airborne table sail toward my daughter.

But it never hit.

About two feet before it made contact, the table was suddenly jerked sideways, as though it had hit a wall. The moving furniture came to a halt as the table crashed to a ground, leaving a deafening silence in its wake.

"I did it." Kara exclaimed quietly in shock, still staring at the table that nearly crushed her. "I made it stop."

As the shock started to leave me, my brain jumped into high gear. My legs carried me to my daughter and I wrapped my arms around her in relief, falling to my knees.

After a few seconds of this, I pulled back and trained an angry look on Kara. "Kara Taniyama-Davis!" I reprimanded loudly. "What were you doing out here?!"

Kara shrunk back, lowering her head. "I'm sorry." She said.

"You know better than this, Kara!" I continued, a little more softly. "You could've been hurt!"

"I know," She mumbled in guilt. "I'm sorry."

I took in her bashful expression a little longer and then brought her into my arms again. The adrenaline was starting to fade, but my anger continued to rage white-hot in my blood.

The others approached slowly. I looked up at them, ignoring everyone until my eyes found Naru's. I wanted to yell at him. I wanted to hit him. I wanted to throw that stupid table at him and demand why it had almost hit Kara.

Instead, I whispered accusingly "You promised she'd be safe, Naru." I clutched Kara a little tighter. "You _promised."_

He had no answer for that.

.

.

… **What? Don't give me that look. I was gonna stop it right after Mai ran after Kara, but then I thought 'that's kind of what I did last time, and it wouldn't be very nice considering my updating record'. So I went with this instead. The fallout is all in the next chapter. Once it's done with, you guys can tell me if I should add a romance genre. No worries, guys. It's already half written. Strangely enough, it was one of the first scenes I wrote for this story.**

 **Until next time. Hopefully it won't be too long.**


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